Mister Scratch wrote:It is entirely possible that I may have missed some earlier admission by DCP or Prof. Hamblin that this is what happened to the letter, but this seems huge.
I recall DCP admitting this some time ago either on FAIR or ZLMB (on a thread about the location of the Book of Mormon Cumorah), when he responded with Hamlin's letter to the first Watson letter. He pooh-poohed away the importance of Hamblin's lost letter even back then. But it did seem odd that Hamblin would rely so heavily on this letter, only to admit he lost it and is recalling it from memory. My feeling is, if folks can pray to find their car keys, why can't Hamblin and DCP pray to find the lost letter? ;)
How horrible to lose such a critical piece of evidence! I don't know about others, but in my opinion, they ought to retract their claim, seeing as how their key piece of evidence no longer exists.
I bet Hamblin could get a copy if he really wanted to -- I'm quite certain that Watson makes copies of all his correspondence, particularly ones that answer questions such as this.
An excellent observation. The big question then, is why doesn't he? What, after all, does he have to lose? I don't know, Rollo---your pointing this out makes it seem rather like Professors Peterson and Hamblin are hiding something.
Edited to add: It is striking to me that DCP would be so defensive regarding this letter. When pressed on it, and when asked to produce it, he immediately responded with retorts along the lines of, "What? Are you accusing us of lying? How DARE YOU!" This seems an overreaction, in my opinion.
It was an overreaction, I think, because DCP is very embarrassed the letter has been lost, which will always weaken his counter-argument (and Hamblin's article).
Rollo Tomasi wrote:I bet Hamblin could get a copy if he really wanted to -- I'm quite certain that Watson makes copies of all his correspondence, particularly ones that answer questions such as this.
An excellent observation. The big question then, is why doesn't he? What, after all, does he have to lose? I don't know, Rollo---your pointing this out makes it seem rather like Professors Peterson and Hamblin are hiding something.
I hadn't thought of that. I do the same thing with work-related correspondence. I archive all e-mails both incoming and outgoing for that very reason.
Curiouser and curiouser!
"Suppose we've chosen the wrong god. Every time we go to church we're just making him madder and madder" --Homer Simpson's version of Pascal's Wager
Religion began when the first scoundrel met the first fool.
Religion is ignorance reduced to a system.
Mister Scratch wrote:I don't know, Rollo---your pointing this out makes it seem rather like Professors Peterson and Hamblin are hiding something.
I've always had that suspicion. A "my-dog-ate-my-homework"-type excuse like Hamblin's never flies with me.
"Moving beyond apologist persuasion, LDS polemicists furiously (and often fraudulently) attack any non-traditional view of Mormonism. They don't mince words -- they mince the truth."
-- Mike Quinn, writing of the FARMSboys, in "Early Mormonism and the Magic World View," p. x (Rev. ed. 1998)
Rollo Tomasi wrote:It was an overreaction, I think, because DCP is very embarrassed the letter has been lost, which will always weaken his counter-argument (and Hamblin's article).
It won't matter either way for some. Some time ago I was talking to a TBM about Cumorah and the letter, and he dismissed the letter as "just being from a secretary".
As long as the prophet stays mute, nothing can be answered . (Of course even if they do speak on something, that too can now just be ignored upon their death as just opinion).